First Man
Page 91
“incur routine injuries” NAA quoted in “Armstrong Heads Home, May Leave Ring,” CPD, Nov. 17, 1978.
“Speak to Us, Neil” CE, May 26, 1979.
“A giant leap for the press” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 26, 1979.
“First Person on Moon Will Step Out of Anonymity” Milwaukee Journal, Feb. 7, 1979.
“Armstrong Reticent Talking of Moon Walk 10 Years Later” Cincinnati Post, Apr. 1, 1979.
“The Search Goes On” “People Today” section, CE, Mar. 4, 1979.
“trip to the North Pole” NAA to author, June 2, 2004, pp. 21–22. NAA’s personal files contain correspondence and notes pertinent to the polar expedition, including a signed certificate from the Polar Bear Chapter of the Order of Arctic Adventurers, substantiating that Armstrong crossed the Arctic Circle and reached 90 degrees North.
“aggressive civilian space agenda” See Pioneering the Space Frontier: The Report of the National Commission on Space (Toronto and New York: Bantam Books,1986).
“long-range plan” NAA to author, June 2, 2004 (after-noon), p. 1.
“fewer number of recommendations a commission makes” Ibid., p. 2.
“not today sitting on everyone’s desk” Ibid.
“put on the line with Mr. Reagan” Ibid., p. 1.
“Rogers seemed to be very interested in doing this job” Ibid.
“Bill Rogers was Mr. Outside” Ibid., p. 2.
“gave me the job of running the operational side of the committee” Ibid.
“Neil was Mr. Inside” Donald Kutyna to author, Mar. 20, 2004, p. 3.
“investigation’s timetable” NAA to author, June 2, 2004 (morning), p. 3.
“be aware of how public opinion was being expressed through the media” Ibid.
“ought to be one investigation” Ibid., p. 4.
“opportunity for some people to play to the cameras” Ibid.
“spent the most time on the accident itself” Ibid., p. 15.
“no such prohibitions from our chairman” Ibid., p. 9.
“‘Mrs. Mitchell, this commission is not about interesting.’” Ibid.
“in the back of this elevator” Kutyna to author, Mar. 20, 2004, p. 7.
“the same conclusions” NAA to author, June 2, 2004 (morning), p. 9.
Transcripts of the public hearings into Challenger The transcripts of the Rogers Commission hearings can be accessed through http://history.nasa.gov. See also Report to the President by the Presidential Commission on the Space ShuttleChallenger Accident, 5 vols., June 6, 1986. Volumes 4 and 5 contain the hearings transcripts.
“in answer to Mr. Armstrong’s questions” Hearings of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger accident, May 2, 1986, Session, Excerpt No. 2866.
“opinions or hypotheses” NAA to author, June 2, 2004 (morning), p. 10.
“unanimous in the commission” Ibid.
“don’t tell NASA to do something it can’t do” Ibid., p. 11.
“everyone felt fully invested in it” Ibid.
“for nature cannot be fooled” For Feynman’s discussion of his minority report, see Feynman as told to Ralph Leighton, What Do You Care What Other People
Think? Further Adventures of a Curious Character (New York: Norton, 1988).
“first impression is usually wrong” NAA quoted in Sharon Turco, “Armstrong: Don’t Jump to Conclusions,” CE, Feb. 3, 2003.
“immortal as a species” NAA to author, June 2, 2004 (afternoon), p. 14.
7 “Moon remains our first objective” Ibid., pp. 16–17.
“suspicious of space tourism” Ibid., p. 17.
“know that we can go to Mars” Ibid., p. 16.
“back to the Moon makes sense” Ibid.
“Our president has introduced a new initiative” NAA acceptance speech for Rotary National Award for Space Achievement, Houston, TX, Mar. 11, 2004, quoted in Mark Carreau, “Armstrong Endorses Bush’s Mars, Moon Plan,” Houston Chronicle, Mar. 12, 2004.
“Mars enthusiast” NAA to author, June 2, 2004 (afternoon), p. 17.3.
“party to an international treaty on uses of the Moon” Ibid., p. 15.
“evidence of the Chinese” Ibid., p. 18.
“My exploration came totally as a by-product of that” Ibid., p. 23.
Chapter 34: The Astronaut as Icon
“touring him around” NAA to author, June 4, 2003, p. 32.
“Anne Morrow” JSA to author, Sept. 11, 2004 (morning), p. 2.
“never experienced such a sense of power” Charles A. Lindbergh quoted in A. Scott Berg, Lindbergh, p. 537.
“accepted an invitation from Neil A. Armstrong” Ibid.
“I might have” NAA to author, June 4, 2003, p. 32.
“beautifully executed mission” Lindbergh quoted in Berg, Lindbergh, p. 537.
“seated next to each other at the banquet” NAA to author, June 4, 2003, p. 33.
“more chance to look around” Lindbergh quoted in Berg, Lindbergh, p. 537.
“certain similarities in the two events” NAA quoted in Mark Bowden, “Unlike Lindbergh, Adoration of Public Eluded Neil Armstrong, First Man on Moon,” newspaper clipping, n.d. [May 1977], source unknown, in VEAP.
“more unlike than alike” NAA quoted in ibid.
“understand his predicament” Ibid.
“told me never to sign autographs” NAA to author, June 4, p. 33.
“most people don’t know our home address” NAA to author, Sept. 22, 2003, p. 27.
“my accountant put an ad in the paper” Ibid., p. 28.
“I don’t ask!” Vivian White to author, May 29, 2003, p. 2.
“sat down at a folding card table” Ibid., p. 1.
“he just quit signing” Ibid., p. 6.
“I sign it” Ibid., p. 5.
“never answer personal questions” Ibid., p. 3.
“hello to all my fellow Scouts” NAA, 02:08:42:31 mission elapsed time. See also “Armstrong Likens Eagle Scout to Astronaut,” CPD, Feb. 7, 1972.
“Scouts don’t do right” NAA to author, Sept. 22, 2003, p. 28.
“no way he could do it” Vivian White to author, May 29, 2003, p. 5.
“no official association with them” NAA to author, Sept. 22, 2003, p. 29.
founder of collectSPACE Pearlman: e-mail to author, Jan. 21, 2005.
“never, ever quoted myself” NAA to author, June 2, 2004 (afternoon), p. 12.
“Daddy will be so pleased” Patricia Nixon quoted in “Armstrong Opens Space Museum,” Washington Post, July 21, 1972.
“just here to see the museum” NAA quoted in ibid.
“I should have been asked” NAA to author, Sept. 22, 2003, p. 37.
“Hallmark case was simple” NAA to author, June 2, 2004 (afternoon), p. 12.
“NASA hadn’t been very careful” Ibid.
“bring the Truth to His Creation” Wernher von Braun quoted in George W. Cornell, “Space Expert Sees New Awareness of God,” CPD, July 19, 1969.
“ecstasy of this prophetic day” Pope Paul VI quoted in Baltimore Sun, July 21, 1969, A4. See also “Pope Praises Plans for Moon Landing,” NYT, July 14, 1969.
“this righteous Lunar flight” Reverend Herman Weber quoted in “St. Paul United Church of Christ Pastor Offers Prayer,” Wapakoneta Daily News, July 16, 1969.
“base for all tranquility, for all peace?” Sermon by Reverend Charles Sloca, Fairfield, IA, “Vision Via Television,” copy in VEAP.
“most important keystone in his ego-structure” Dan L. Thrapp [Los Angeles Times/Washington Post Service], “Moon Walk to Shift Man-God Views,” Dayton Journal Herald, July 19, 1969.
“astronauts were religious men” Ming Zhen Shakya, “A Nobel Prize, Lunar Communion, the Beatitudes, and a Song of David’s,” n.d., accessed at www.hsuyun.org/Dharma/zbohy/Literature/essay/mzs/beatitudes.html. Ms. Ming Shen identified herself as belonging to the Zen Buddhist Order of Hsu Yun.
“felt the power of God as I’d never felt it before” James Irwin quoted in C
harles W. Colson, “Astronauts Who Found God: A Spiritual View of Space,” Nov. 5, 1998, accessed at www.fuw.edu.pl/~pniez/breakpoint.html.
“walking with the Son” Charles Duke quoted in ibid.
“Onward Christian Spacemen” Anonymous essay, n.d., accessed at www.grace unknown.com/Scholastica/OnwardChristianSpacemen.html.
“were not even high priests” Gillies Macbain, “Pilgrimage to the Moon,” n.d., accessed at www.aislingmagazine.com/Anu/articles/TAM17/Moon.html. Macbain identified himself as “a writer, philosopher, and organic farmer” living in County Tipperary, Ireland.
U.S. State Department sent the following message Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC, to Middle Eastern and Pacific Diplomatic Posts, “Subject: Alleged Conversion of Neil Armstrong,” Mar. 2, 1983, copy in NAA’s personal files. In NAA’s personal papers, there is a very large file pertaining to this subject as well as to Neil’s attempts to dispel the rumor. Some of the contents involve messages circulated worldwide within the United States Information Agency (USIA). The following is a sampling of headlines from articles published in the Islamic world about Armstrong’s alleged conversion: “American Astronaut Embraces Islam,” Radiance Delhi, Mar. 20, 1983; “Did Armstrong Hear Azan on the Moon?” Gulf News, Apr. 2, 1983; and “Neil Armstrong Embraces Islam,” Yaqeen International, Apr. 22, 1983. Among the many letters written to Armstrong from people around the world about his alleged conversion, as many came from Christians hoping that the rumors were not true as from Muslims hoping that they were.
“certainly didn’t completely stem the questions” NAA to author, June 2, 2004 (afternoon), p. 9. Neil’s teleconference took place on May 23, 1983. See USIA, Satellite Speakers Staff, “Subject: TelePress Conference: Neil Armstrong/Cairo; Topic: Disinformation in Egypt on Armstrong’s Supposed Conversion to Islam,” May 20, 1983, copy in NAA’s personal files
“convinced that I would lie” NAA to author, June 2, 2004 (afternoon), p. 10.
Mecca is “the center of the world” “Islamic Science: Neil Armstrong Proved Mecca is the Center of the World” (Interview with Dr. Abd Al-Baset of the Egyptian National Research Center), Clip No. 545, Jan. 16, 2005, accessed at www.memrity.org/Transcript.asp?P1=545.
“many organizations claim” NAA to author, June 2, 2004 (afternoon), p. 9.
“expedition cannot possibly have been to my cave” Erich von Däniken, Bonstetten (Zürich), Switzerland, to NAA, Feb. 18, 1977, in NAA’s personal files.
“no statements regarding any hypotheses” NAA to Erich von Däniken, Feb. 24, 1977, in NAA’s personal files.
“absolutely no truth to it” Private conversation, NAA to author, June 2, 2004.
“Has NASA ever refuted the allegations” NAA to Lori Garver, Associate Administrator for Policy & Plans, Code Z, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, Aug. 10, 2000, copy in NAA’s personal files.
“people love conspiracy theories” NAA to author, June 2, 2004, p. 7.
“hire special security” James Smith to author, July 17, 2003, p. 14.
“opportunity to run that episode” NAA to author, June 2, 2004 (afternoon), p. 8.
confronted Buzz Aldrin See Sheila Burke, “Nashville Filmmaker Confronts Former Astronaut Buzz Aldrin” Feb. 9, 2002, accessed at Tennessean.com.
“All of a sudden, I felt shaky” CKA to author, June 3, 2004, p. 12.
Chapter 35: Into the Heartland
“Neil had his heart attack” KKS in letter to author, May 16, 2003.
“My husband’s job was there” JSA to author, Sept. 11, 2004 (afternoon), p. 6.
“never lived in a small town” Ibid., p. 9.
“easier for Mark than it was for Rick” Ibid., p. 7.
“learned to ignore it” Rick Armstrong to author, Sept. 22, 2003, p. 18.
“boys wouldn’t say anything to me” JSA to author, Sept. 11, 2004 (afternoon), p. 8.
“something that had to be done” Ibid., p. 13.
“shovel poop during the day” Ibid.
“stuck out there in the country” Ibid., p. 20.
“got tired of all this” Ibid., p. 19.
“The man needed help” Ibid., p. 23.
“could not continue to live like that” Ibid., p. 24.
“took a whole year to get on his schedule” Ibid., p. 25.
“cried for three years before I left” Ibid.
“couldn’t live with the personality anymore” Ibid.
“the deepest depression” HSC to author, Oct. 7, 2003, p. 8.
“begged her for a long time to come back” DAA to author, Nov. 14, 2002, p. 31.
“Dad sat straight up in bed” JHA to author, Apr. 5, 2003, author’s notes, p. 1.
“very happy that I believed” Ibid., p. 2.
“‘Neil who?’” CKA to author, June 3, 2004, p. 3.
“all our friends were here” Ibid., p. 6.
“It’s not about me” Ibid.
“definitely run interference” Ibid.
“You must be kidding” Ibid., p. 13.
“A humdinger!” HSC to author, Oct. 7, 2003, p. 11.
“nuts about Carol” CSM to author, June 25, 2003, p. 16.
“got tired of being Mrs. Neil Armstrong” EC to author, Feb. 10, 2003, p. 22.
“have friends, and we do things” JSA to author, Sept. 11, 2004 (afternoon), p. 25.
“look what it’s done to him inside” Ibid., p. 28.
“too seriously to heart” Ibid., p. 34.
“could actually hear the thermals” Ibid., p. 36.
“show you a secret” KKS in letter to author, May 16, 2003.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
NONARCHIVED PRIVATE PAPERS
Papers of Neil A. Armstrong. Lebanon and Cincinnati, OH.
Papers of Viola Engel Armstrong and Armstrong Family. Hereford, AZ (Property of June Armstrong Hoffman).
Personal Diary of Ensign Glen Howard “Rick” Rickelton, U.S. Navy, Written During V-51 Combat Flight Training & Korean War Service Aboard CV-9 USS Essex, Rickelton Family Papers, Elk Grove, CA, and Seattle, WA.
Personal Diary of Robert Kaps, USS Essex (CV-9), Carrier Air Group Five, 28 June 1951 to 25 March 1952.
ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS
Archives of Aerospace Exploration. University Libraries, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Blacksburg, VA.
Auglaize County Public Library. Wapakoneta, OH. Neil A. Armstrong Newspaper Files.
Emil Buehler Naval Aviation Library. National Museum of Naval Aviation. Pensacola, FL.
John Glenn Archives. The Ohio State University Archives. Columbus, OH.
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. Historical Archives. Edwards, CA.
NASA Headquarters History Office. Washington, DC.
National Personnel Records Center. Military Personnel Records. St. Louis, MO.
Naval Historical Center. Department of the Navy, Washington Navy Yard. Washington, DC.
Neil A. Armstrong Museum. Newspaper files. Wapakoneta, OH.
Nixon Presidential Materials. National Archives at College Park. College Park, MD.
Ohio Historical Society. Columbus, OH.
Purdue University Library and Archives. West Lafayette, IN.
Records of NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. National Archives and Records Administration—Pacific Region. Laguna Nigel, CA.
Records of NASA Glenn Research Center. National Archives and Records Administration—Midwest Region. Chicago, IL.
Records of NASA Headquarters. National Archives and Records Administration—East Region. College Park, MD. Record Group 255.
Records of NASA Johnson Space Center. National Archives and Records Administration—Southwest Region. Fort Worth, TX. Record Group 255.
Records of NASA Johnson Space Center. Library and Archives of the University of Houston–Clear Lake. Clear Lake, TX.
Records of NASA Kennedy Space Center. National Archives and Records Administration—Southeast Region. Atlanta, GA. Record Group 2
55.
Records of NASA Langley Research Center. National Archives and Records Administration—Atlantic Region. Philadelphia, PA. Record Group 255.
Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute University Archives, Troy, NY. George M. Low Papers.
Time-Life Archives. Time-Life Building. New York City.
University of Cincinnati Archives. Cincinnati, OH.
Wyandot County Public Library. Newspaper files. Upper Sandusky, OH.
DOCUMENTS
Works of Neil A. Armstrong, Published and Unpublished
“Future Range and Flight Test Area Needs for Hypersonic and Orbital Vehicles,” Proceedings of Professional Pilots Symposium on Air Space Safety, 1958. Also appeared in Society of Experimental Test Pilots 3 (Winter 1959).
“Flight and Analog Studies of Landing Techniques Pertinent to the X-15 Airplane,” Research-Airplane-Committee Report on Conference on the Progress of the X-15 Project, NACA-CONF-30-Jul-58, July 30, 1958. Coauthors: Thomas W. Finch, Gene J. Matranga, Joseph A. Walker.
“Test Pilot Views on Space Ventures,” Proceedings of ASME Aviation Conference, Mar. 1959.
“Approach and Landing Investigation at Lift-Drag Ratios of 2 to 4 Utilizing a Straight-Wing Fighter Airplane,” NASA TM X-31, Aug. 1959. Coauthor, GeneJ. Matranga.
“Utilization of the Pilot in the Launch and Injection of a Multistage Orbital Vehicle,” IAS Paper 60-16, 1960. Coauthors: E. C. Holleman and W. H. Andrew.
“X-15 Operations: Electronics and the Pilot,” Astronautics 5 (May 1960): 42–3, 76–8.
“Development of X-15 Self-Adaptive Flight Control System,” Research-Airplane-Committee Report on Conference on the Progress of the X-15 Project, 1961. Coauthors: R. P. Johannes and T. C. Hays.
“Flight-Simulated Off-the-Pad Escape and Landing Maneuvers for a Vertically Launched Hypersonic Glider,” NASA TM X-637, March 1962. Coauthors: G.J. Matranga and William H. Dana.
“The X-15 Flight Program,” Proceedings of the Second National Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Space, Seattle, WA, May 8–10, 1962. Coauthors: Joseph A. Walker, Forrest S. Petersen, Robert M. White.
“A Review of In-Flight Simulation Pertinent to Piloted Space Vehicles,” AGARD Report 403, 21st Flight Mechanics Panel Meeting, Paris, France, July 9–11,1962. Coauthor, Euclid C. Holleman.
“Pilot Utilization During Boost,” Inter-Center Technical Conference on Control Guidance and Navigation Research for Manned Lunar Missions, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, July 24–25, 1962. Coauthor, Euclid C. Holleman.